Takefumi Hori — Biography & CV

Biography

Abstract Gold Leaf Painter | Brooklyn, New York

About Takefumi Hori

Takefumi Hori is a Japanese-born abstract painter based in Brooklyn, New York, widely recognized as a leading innovator in gold leaf abstract painting. Born in Tokyo in 1978, Hori studied classical and contemporary Japanese calligraphy before relocating to New York City in 2004. His practice sits at a singular intersection of Eastern tradition and Western contemporary art, using 12-, 18-, and 24-karat gold leaf as the primary medium for a body of abstract work that spans over two decades.

Since 2009, Hori has built an international reputation for paintings that layer gold leaf, gold acrylic, and mixed pigments onto canvas through a painstaking process of application, scratching, cutting, sanding, and re-layering. His works are held in private and corporate collections across the United States, United Kingdom, and beyond — including a permanent installation at the iconic Claridge's Hotel in Mayfair, London.

Artistic Vision: Gold as the Language of New York

The central subject of Takefumi Hori's paintings is the energy of New York City — the restless ambition, the drive for success, and the electricity that pulses through its streets. This energy mirrors his own journey as an immigrant artist striving to establish himself in one of the world's most competitive art markets. Gold, for Hori, is not simply a material; it is the visual embodiment of that desire, aspiration, and achievement.

His initial inspiration came from an extended period of exploration through New York's museums, galleries, parks, and boutiques — searching, as he describes it, for his own voice. The turning point arrived at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, where he encountered gold ornamentation spanning thousands of years and dozens of cultures. From ancient artifacts to 18th- and 19th-century decorative arts and contemporary luxury goods, gold emerged as a universal signifier of beauty, wealth, and cultural sophistication.

"I was drawn to the gold ornaments. This embellishment inspired me. That is when I started using gold leaf."

Hori's circle series, widely considered the core of his oeuvre, draws on symbolism shared across Eastern and Western traditions. Rather than assigning prescribed meanings to these works, he numbers them simply, inviting each viewer to encounter the paintings on their own terms. Collectors and critics have described the Circle paintings as esoteric, calm, contemplative, and arresting — not merely abstract depictions of shape, but open invitations to consider form, material, and the effect of their combination.

Technique: The Gold Leaf Process

Takefumi Hori's process is physically demanding and technically exacting. Working with 24-karat gold leaf — supplied in delicate 6x6-inch sheets — he has developed proprietary techniques to eliminate the visible seams that would normally appear between sheets. The result is the illusion of an enormous, singular sheet of gold across an entire canvas, a feat that has no known precedent in art history.

His layering process unfolds as follows: the canvas is first painted with gold acrylic and black. Gold leaf is then applied and subjected to scratching, cutting, and sanding. The surface is painted over with a clear gel mixed with pigment. This sequence is repeated — layer upon layer — until the painting reaches completion. The use of multiple gold grades (12k, 18k, and 24k) introduces a remarkable range of depth, tone, and reflective quality, so that works change character with shifts in light and viewing angle.

"Layering gold and paint, scratching and scraping the surface, and mixing various kinds of gold creates visual depth in my paintings and reflects light in different ways depending on the angle of view."

This additive and subtractive method — simultaneously building up and stripping back — gives the paintings what gallery texts have described as temporality: each revealed or concealed layer adds a dimension of time to the frontal surface. These are not works to be briefly scanned. Their nuances and gradations reward sustained, thoughtful attention.

Beyond the technical achievement, Hori has mastered the behavioral unpredictability of pure gold. Because gold leaf is exceptionally soft, every incidental bump or indentation leaves a visible mark. Hori seeks full control over this sensitivity, transforming what would be imperfection into intentional visual effect.

Eastern Tradition, Western Canvas: A Cultural Fusion

Hori's training in Japanese calligraphy is not merely biographical context — it is structural to his compositions. In classical calligraphy, the center of visual weight falls to the lower left, with movement ascending toward the upper right. Hori replicates this dynamic in his abstract paintings, creating a sense of directed energy that pulls the viewer's eye across the canvas in a deliberate arc. Circles, squares, and rectangles serve as the compositional anchors through which gold interacts with color, echo forms found in both Japanese aesthetic tradition and Western geometric abstraction.

The concept of Miyabi — a classical Japanese aesthetic ideal translated as elegance and refinement — runs through Hori's practice. His London gallery, Fiumano Clase, has described his paintings as "balanced and harmonious," representing an expansion of the vocabulary of painting itself. Gold, in his hands, carries both its Western associations of wealth and opulence and the East Asian resonances of enlightenment and inner peace — references that belong to everyone, weighted differently by each individual viewer.

"My compositions are based on my experience with Japanese calligraphy: I place the center of visual weight to the lower left and create movement to the upper right of a canvas. This is to represent my intention of merging Eastern art traditions with Western art."

New Directions: Landscape Series and 2024 Works

In recent years, Hori has expanded his practice to include a new Landscape series, inspired by his experience moving between New York and Tokyo. The skies of both cities — charged with the density of urban life yet open in ways that parallel each other — have become a new source of imagery and feeling in his work.

"I have been inspired by the Tokyo sky and NYC sky. That is the reason why I started a new Landscape series. The energy of the city and sky inspires me. NYC sky and Tokyo sky look the same to me in a good way."

His palette has evolved toward muted, dark pastel tones and neutrals with chromatic accents — colors he describes as a "good fit for gold material." His technical control over the gold itself has deepened as well, with increasing mastery of cracking, layering, and dyeing effects.

Collections & Representation

Takefumi Hori is represented by galleries across the United States, United Kingdom, and Europe:

Studio E Gallery — Palm Beach Gardens, FL

Arden Gallery — Boston, MA

Diehl Gallery — Jackson, WY

Amy Simon Fine Art — Westport, CT

Fiumano Clase — London, UK

Long View Gallery — Washington, D.C.

Weinberger Fine Art — Kansas City, MO

Chicago Art Source — Chicago, IL

His work has entered distinguished institutional and corporate collections, including:

Claridge's Hotel — Mayfair, London

Acadian Asset Management — Boston, MA

Westwood Global Investments — Boston, MA

Bloomingdale's — Chicago, IL

ACTIV Financial Systems, Inc. — New York, NY

Polsinelli — New York, NY

Fort Totten Square Apartments — Washington, D.C.

The Apollo Apartments — Washington, D.C.

Osteria Fusco, LaGuardia Airport — Queens, NY

Selected Exhibition Highlights

2023: Arden Gallery Solo Show (New Works No.5); Diehl Gallery (19th Annual Fete); London Art Fair, Fiumano Clase

2022: Fiumano Clase Solo Show (The Tranquil Space), London; Arden Gallery Solo Show (New Works No.4)

2019: Fuller Craft Museum (Striking Gold: Fuller at Fifty); VOLTA Basel; Art Central Hong Kong; London Art Fair

2018: Fiumano Clase Solo Show (ENJUKU), London; Pulse Art Fair Miami; London Art Fair

2016: Fiumano Projects Solo Show (MIYABI: Intransigent Elegance), London; Scope Basel

2014: Fiumano Fine Art Solo Show (Shibui, Scratching the Surface in Search of the Sublime), London

Biography

Takefumi Hori was born in 1978 in Tokyo, Japan. He studied classical and contemporary Japanese calligraphy before moving to New York City in 2004. He began creating abstract paintings with acrylic on canvas shortly after arriving in New York, and in 2009 began his signature practice of gold leaf abstract painting. He lives and works in Brooklyn, New York, and splits time between New York and Tokyo. His work is exhibited and collected internationally.

Curriculum Vitae

2023

Arden Gallery (Solo show New Works No.5)
Diehl Gallery (THE 19TH ANNUAL FETE)
Diehl Gallery(BRIGHT & BEAUTIFUL VII : A Holiday Group Exhibition)
Amy Simon Fine Art
London Art Fair, Fiumano Clase

2022

Diehl Gallery (THE 18TH ANNUAL FETE)
Diehl Gallery(BRIGHT & BEAUTIFUL VI : A Holiday Group Exhibition)
Diehl Gallery (Winter White)
Arden Gallery (Solo show New Works No.4)
Fiumano Clase (Solo Show THE TRANQUIL SPACE)
Fiumano Clase (Group Show)

2021

Arden Gallery (Solo show New Works No.3)
Arden Gallery (Floral Still Life Show)
Amy Simon Fine Art (Good Company)
Diehl Gallery (BRIGHT & BEAUTIFUL IV)

2020

Fiumano Clase, London (SUMMER EXHIBITION)

Amy Simon Fine Art (Many Rivers To Cross)

Diehl Gallery, Jackson, WY (THE 16TH ANNUAL FETE)

Diehl Gallery (Modern Alchemy)

Diehl Gallery (THE LITTLE THINGS)

2019

Arden Gallery (Solo show New Works No.1)

Arden Gallery (Solo show New Works No.2)

Diehl Gallery (The 15th Annual Fête)

Diehl Gallery(BRIGHT & BEAUTIFUL lll : A Holiday Group Exhibition)

Amy Simon Fine Art (POTPOURRI)

Fuller Craft Museum (Striking Gold: Fuller at Fifty)

Art Central, Hong Kong, Fiumano Clase

London Art Fair, Fiumano Clase

VOLTA BASEL, Fiumano Clase

Jackson Hole Fine Art Fair, Diehl Gallery

2018

Fiumano Clase, London (Solo show ENJUKU)

Long View Gallery Washington, D.C. ("Heavy Metal"- Eve Stockton and Takefumi Hori)

Amy Simon Fine Art, Walking On Sunshine, (Group Show)

London Art Fair, London, Fiumano Clase

Pulse Art Fair Miami, Fiumano Clase

2017

Long View Gallery, Washington, D.C.(Solo show New Work)

Chicago Art Source, Source, IL (New Works)

Pulse Art Fair Miami, Fiumano Clase

London Art Fair, London, Fiumano Clase

Art Central, Hong Kong, Fiumano Clase

2016

Fiumano Projects, London (Solo show MIYABI:INTRANSIGENT ELEGANCE')

Fiumano Projects' SUMMER EXHIBITION-CELEBRATING 15 YEARS, London

Long View Gallery, Washington, D.C. (Solo show Treasures)

London Art Fair, London, Fiumano Clase

Start Art Fair, London, Fiumano Clase

Scope Basel, Basel, Fiumano Clase

2015

London Art Fair, London

START Art Fair, London

HB Home, New York, NY

Long View Gallery, Washington, D.C.

Boston Art Inc, MA

Chicago Art Source, IL

2014

Long View Gallery, Washington, D.C. ( Gilded solo show )

Long View Gallery, Washington, D.C. ( Refresh IV group show)

HB Home, New York, NY

Boston Art Inc, MA

Chicago Art Source, IL ( New Works )

Fiumano Fine Art, London ( Shibui, Scratching the Surface in Search of the Sublime solo show )

Fiumano Fine Art, London ( Summer Salon group show )

London Art Fair, London

2013

HB Home, New York, NY

Boston Art Inc, MA

Chicago Art Source, IL

Long View Gallery, Washington, D.C. ( Refresh III )

Fiumano Fine Art, London ( Summer Open House )

2012

Hubert Gallery, New York, NY

HB Home, New York, NY

2011

Ports 1961, Chelsea, NY

HB Home, New York, NY

REPRESENTED

Studio E Gallery, Palm Beach Gardens, FL

Amy Simon Fine Art, Westport, CT

Diehl Gallery, Jackson, WY

Arden Gallery, Boston, MA

Fiumano Clase, London

Long View Gallery, Washington, D.C.

Weinberger Fine Art, Kansas City, MO

Chicago Art Source, Chicago, IL

COLLECTION

Claridge's Hotel, Mayfair, London

Osteria Fusco in LaGuardia Airport, Queens, NY

SC Culinary Suite, New York, NY

Fusco, New York, NY

ACTIV Financial Systems, Inc, New York, NY

Polsinelli, New York, NY

Westwood Global Investments, Boston, MA

Acadian Asset Management, Boston, MA

Twenty Two Liberty, Boston, MA

Grandview Apartments, Boston, MA

Fort Totten Square Apartments, Washington, D.C.

The Apollo Apartments, Washington, D.C.

Bloomingdale's, Chicago, IL

Villa Sunrise, Cabrera, Dominican Republic

View artwork by Takefumi Hori